


Playdates

by aurilly



Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-02
Updated: 2008-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-02 18:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Nathan dies and Peter and Angela go missing, Heidi comes to Mohinder for answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playdates

People who came to Mohinder's apartment were not likely to knock. Molly was too young to come home without the company of an adult. Then there was Matt, but he still had his own key, even though he had moved out and gone into hiding somewhere that not even Mohinder knew about. Then there was Sylar, who hadn't been back since that horrible day months ago when the whole world had almost died, but he was the sort who to consider himself above such niceties as knocking.

So it came as a shock when one afternoon when Mohinder heard the distinct sound of a hand rapping against the door. He crept slowly to the door and looked through the peephole. Standing in the hallway was a strikingly beautiful woman wearing a very expensive-looking black knee-length dress with a green scarf that brought out the color of her eyes. Mohinder had never received a visitor this posh… well, except for Nathan Petrelli that one time.

One never knew, but Mohinder decided he might as well open the door. If she was Company, she'd find a way of getting in anyway, and it was probably smarter to face the danger head on. More likely, she was just a Jehovah's Witness or something.

"Yes?" he asked while standing tensely in the doorway.

The woman looked slightly flustered as she gazed at him in confusion. "I---I'm looking for Chandra Suresh. I thought he lived here, but you seem…?" Mohinder knew what she was about to say; the word 'younger' was on the tip of her tongue.

"I'm his son, Mohinder. Chandra Suresh died eight months ago." Mohinder was experiencing déjà vu. This was so much like Peter Petrelli's visit here so long ago. This woman had a similarly sweet yet puzzled approach to the situation that brought back pangs of guilt for missed opportunities.

This startled the woman even more. "Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that. I truly am." She looked pale and as if she might actually leave. Mohinder finally realized how cold his demeanor must be making him seem.

"Come in," he finally said, and moved from inside the doorway to let her inside the apartment. She walked in tentatively, looking around. For such an expensively dressed woman, she didn't turn her nose up at the peeling paint or oddly mismatched furniture, and for this, Mohinder decided he liked her. "What's your name?" he asked, realizing that they had already gotten off to an awkward start.

"I'm Heidi Petrelli. I was Nathan Petrelli's wife, until recently."

"I'm so sorry… too," Mohinder replied. Now that she had introduced herself, she did look familiar, from the newspaper photos during election time. The recipient of a miracle. The grieving widow.

Heidi sat down at the table, and Mohinder straddled one of the wooden chairs. "So, what brings you here?" he asked.

"I found this book while cleaning out Nathan's things the other day. It got me thinking. What was he going to say before he was shot? Was he going to tell people that he was one of these people? I just didn't know. I didn't know how much credence to give to all this. There's no one to ask. Peter disappeared completely after Nathan's shooting; I put out a search for him, but nothing. I don't know if he's alive or dead or grieving or what. Their mother has disappeared as well. I didn't know where to get answers. I thought Chandra could help me."

"I can help you more than my father could," Mohinder said, with a confidence about this that he had not yet had a chance to display. "Nathan came to me once for help. For Peter."

"He told me once that he could fly. It was so strange, but I wanted to believe him. But his mother…" Heidi's face became bitter as she thought back to this memory. "His mother told me that he was having a delusional episode, just like his father. She told me Nathan was crazy, having hallucinations because of the pain from his burns. I let her convince me… _bitch_." Having gotten out the epithet, she laughed at her own rudeness, and then settled back into a sigh.

Mohinder took her hand reassuringly. "Nathan was one of them. He was not delusional. It's all true, what my father wrote. I've found many of these special individuals. He _could_ fly; I saw him."

Heidi's eyes shone through her years. "Tell me. Everything."

Mohinder realized that no one had ever asked him to tell the story before. It took awhile to get into the narrative, but after awhile, reactions, emotions, observations that had long been bottled up came tumbling out. Mohinder hadn't had anyone but a little girl to talk to in weeks. Heidi was a good listener; not only was this information all huge, but she seemed to sense how cathartic this was for the young doctor.

He told her only what concerned her husband, and her husband's mother. He left out his own personal trials, with his father's murder, his friendship with Zane, his betrayal by Sylar, the debraining of so many people. Mohinder convinced himself mid-speech that it was already so much for someone like her to absorb at one time. There was no need to burden her with terrors that would destroy her equilibrium. But at the core, Mohinder wanted to keep his own pains private; it was comforting for him to talk about everything, but there were some things he wasn't yet ready to face, to vocalize, and to share.

He spoke for almost an hour, during which Heidi was flabbergasted and gasped at appropriate moments in the story. At the end, Mohinder suddenly became sheepish. "Sorry, that was a bit of a monologue. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Not at all." She smiled bravely. "I'm… impressed. You've been through a lot. More than I think anyone has ever gone through."

"I… not at all." Mohinder was genuinely modest. "Things just happen. You have to go with the flow. I had no idea what I was doing; I don't think anyone did."

"But here you are."

"Yes, here I am," Mohinder repeated sadly.

Heidi looked around the apartment again, and noticed little signs that had escaped her when she first came in. "A little girl lives here," she said in a kind of sad awe.

Mohinder worked to suppress the anxiety he felt anytime strangers connected to danger found out about Molly. He forced himself to smile happily, reminding himself that his gut told him that Heidi was a good person. "Yes."

"How old is she?"

"Nine," Mohinder replied.

Heidi looked at him quizzically. "You're too young to have a nine-year-old."

"I adopted her. It's a long story. I actually should probably leave soon. I have to go pick her up from school. We can meet up again another day if you have any more questions."

Heidi sat up. "May… may I come with you? We can keep talking on the way. And, to be honest, I just really love little girls. I always wanted to have one."

The genuine heartbreak in her voice overshadowed any menace Mohinder should have felt at such a suggestion. "Okay," he agreed hesitantly, wondering what he was doing. His instincts told him it would be alright, but his instincts hadn't served him well in the past.

Mohinder gathered his keys and jacket, and the two of them left. As they ambled through the neighborhood, he and Heidi changed the subject to less tense topics, such as the new Coney Island development, the Heidi's childhood in Boston, Mohinder's humorous and haphazard adventures in parenting.

"Does all this mean that my children will be able to fly?" Heidi suddenly asked. She sounded afraid at the thought.

Mohinder sighed at the complexity of the answer he had to give. "No, not necessarily, and in two ways. Firstly, there is no guarantee that the child of one of these people will manifest any ability, especially when only one parent has the genetic marker. Secondly, the genes that allow for these abilities manifest in different ways in different individuals. Just because Nathan could fly doesn't mean that your sons would, even if one or both of them end up having abilities. It could be anything, either something out of a comic book, or else something so subtle that you might never notice."

"Such as?"

Mohinder tried to think. "Extrasensory hearing, for one. You might just think your sons---what are their names?" Mohinder interrupted himself.

"Simon and Monty," Heidi said with a smile. Mohinder pulled a face and she laughed. "I know. Nathan's mother insisted on naming our second son Montague. I don't know if you've met her, but… when she demands something, you listen."

"We've met," Mohinder replied. And that said it all. "Well," he continued, "you may never realize that a talent they have is more than just that. The ways in which this mutation works are fascinating, and I'm not sure that I'll ever understand it all."

"Are you working on it?" Heidi asked, hatching a plan.

Mohinder looked a bit downtrodden. "Well, I have been, in my own way. But since I left the Company---it's a long story about… a paper company… I won't bore you---"

"Oh don't worry, from some papers I found, I have long had a feeling that there was more to Primatech Paper than I realized," Heidi finished for him.

Mohinder looked at her with new eyes. This was no clueless society wife. "Good, then I don't have to go into it. Anyway, they were funding my research for some time, and at the moment I don't have access to more advanced equipment, so I'm at a bit of a standstill."

As they approached the block the school was on, Mohinder spotted Molly waiting for him at the entrance to the playground. She looked at them warily, unused to seeing her guardian in the presence of strange women. In the background, Molly's teacher looked surprised (and saddened) as well.

"Who are you?" Molly asked suspiciously.

"Molly, this is Heidi Petrelli. Heidi, this is Molly."

"Nice to meet you Molly," Heidi said kindly. She turned to Mohinder and laughed. "She has your smirk, Mohinder."

"I suppose that's the one physical resemblance you can compliment us on, isn't it?" He laughed, and seeing that, Molly calmed down a little bit. "Heidi was married to Nathan Petrelli," he explained.

Molly's eyes went wide. "You mean…?" and made a rocket gesture with her hand to accompany her whisper. Mohinder nodded, and Molly made an awestruck face and mouthed the word 'wow.'

Heidi bent down to be on eye level with Molly. "Were you there, too?" she asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah. It was really cool… _really_ cool. He was very brave. I'm sorry he's dead now. Matt was really sad."

"Thanks, I'm sorry, too."

**********************************************************

Heidi's visit a few days before had created a new category of people: those who knock. Even so, Mohinder jumped a mile at the sound and instinctively reached for his brass elephant.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. Worry was etched on his face as he opened the door, holding the sculpture behind his back.

Practically reading his mind, Heidi replied, "Do people only visit you when something's wrong?" When Mohinder didn't answer, she added, "I guess that's a yes."

"It's nice to see you again," Mohinder said with a shy smile. "What brings you back?"

"I don't know. It was nice talking to you the other day. You're the only person who has any kind of answers for me. Plus…" At this Heidi sort of choked. "I don't really have anything to do right now."

"I see. Well, come in," Mohinder said.

Heidi gave him a look. "Nice elephant," she said. They both laughed.

"Tea?" Mohinder offered politely.

Tea turned into lunch, which turned into a walk.

"It's so strange," Heidi said as they sat on a bench in Prospect Park. "You can be married to someone for ten years and think you know everything about them, and then you meet a total stranger who turns out knows more about him than you do."

"You shouldn't think of it like that. Yes, I knew about this one particular thing, but you know, Nathan's ability was not the most important thing about him. He had it for less than a year, and I'm sure the experiences he shared with you were much more important to him. Every time I saw him---and also whenever Matt saw him---he either refused to acknowledge his ability, or else was focused on helping Peter. You still know the real Nathan better than anyone."

"I guess," she said, but didn't sound particularly convinced.

Before they knew it, it was getting to be time to pick up their respective children. Heidi called her driver to meet them and drop Mohinder off at Molly's school, from whence she intended to continue on into Manhattan to fetch the boys.

"Why don't you and Molly come over to the house this weekend?" Heidi asked while they drove. "I couldn't ask for a better school than Buckley for Monty and Simon, but sometimes I wonder if it isn't detrimental for them not to have any little girl friends. Molly seems very sweet; I think the three of them would have a great time together."

Mohinder smirked. "Is this one of those elusive playdates that Molly's always saying I'm inept at arranging?"

"Yes it is. And judging from that reaction, I can see why she complains," Heidi laughed. "I'm going to take that as a yes. You should come, too. I have a feeling you're in more need of a playdate than Molly is. Am I right?"

"Probably. The last time was…" Mohinder clapped his hand over his mouth as he realized the memory his mind had immediately and involuntarily jumped to. "My 'playdates' are usually more, well, antagonistic, than most people's," he concluded.

Heidi looked as though she wished he would say more, but she didn't press him. "I'll see you two for lunch on Saturday. You know the address."

**********************************************************

"Wanna play Hide and Seek?" Monty asked. It was clearly his customary overture to potential new friends.

Molly's face lit up with a wicked gleam. "Oh yeah! I want to be seeker!" she cried.

"Molly," came Mohinder's stern warning.

To everyone else's confusion, Molly's entire demeanor changed. She sighed and pouted at Mohinder before grudgingly telling Monty, "Actually, you be seeker. I'll hide. It's alright."

Monty and Simon raised their eyebrows and shrugged at one another, as if to say "_girls._" Heidi and Mohinder watched as Monty stood with his face against the wall and started counting to twenty. Molly and Simon scampered off into other rooms of the house.

When they were finally alone, Heidi pulled a bottle of wine and two glasses from under the tablecloth.

Mohinder looked scandalized. "What's this?" he asked.

"I don't know why, but I really could use a grown-up moment."

Mohinder cracked up. "You know what? Me, too."

"You're great with her," Heidi observed encouragingly as she poured. "For a scientist turned single dad, you're doing a fantastic job. She seems pretty happy."

"I hope so," Mohinder replied.

Already beginning to understand Mohinder's character, Heidi proceeded carefully with the next thing she wanted to talk about. "I was thinking about what you said the other day about being at an impasse with your research. And I think Nathan would have wanted you to continue. I would like to be your sponsor."

"I can't accept that kind of offer. It's too much," Mohinder protested.

"Oh, come on. Between my trust fund, and the Petrelli's family money, I have more than I know what to do with. This will be a perfect way to continue Nathan's legacy. He died trying to do something about these abilities, trying to help them in some way. You want to do the same thing. And I have the power to help you do it. And if my children might end up in the same boat…"

"I'll have to think about it," Mohinder grudgingly said, but his eyes sparkled at the possibilities.

"Well, maybe this will help you to make up your mind." With a smile, Heidi handed him a set of keys.

"What's this?" Mohinder asked.

"The new keys to your old lab. I bought the property and everything it contained. It's waiting for you."

Mohinder was speechless.

**********************************************************

And so things progressed. The Saturday get-together became a weekly occurrence. Lunches became too frequent and spontaneous to schedule. Life settled into a normal rhythm that Mohinder had forgotten could exist.

Work at the lab was going well. Of course, Mohinder had taken Heidi's offer. It was too good to be true. She was the best possible boss; she knew too little about what Mohinder was doing to ever bother him about anything. And whenever she did come by, it was simply to remind him that they had some sort of outing planned that he, in his concentration, was likely to forget.

Heidi pulled some strings to get Molly accepted into Nightingale-Bamford. It hadn't occurred to Mohinder to send Molly to private school, and he was definitely nervous that she might turn out like those scary characters on that inappropriate Gossip Girl show he always caught her watching when his back was turned, but he knew it was a good decision. At any rate, it was good from a security standpoint.

Mohinder had never had much of a social life in New York, and everyone he had met was either dead, in hiding, or hated him. Things hadn't really changed, but Heidi tried her best to drag him out, under the transparent excuse that it was for Molly's sake---but really it was for his.

Even the usually oblivious Mohinder couldn't mistake the looks people gave them whenever they happened to see any of Heidi's society acquaintances. He knew what it looked like, even though it most decidedly wasn't. Pretty, young widow amuses herself with sexy, exotic boy-toy. Mohinder blushed constantly, which probably wasn't helping matters. He knew Heidi must see it, too, but neither of them wanted to talk about it.

Awhile later, Heidi and Mohinder finally decided to "come out" to the children about the whole "special abilities" situation. They sat Molly and the boys down to have a long talk about Nathan, what he had been able to do, what it might mean for them, and what it had meant for Molly. Molly demonstrated her ability as a way of showing what the gene could do, but though highly useful and impressive, Molly's wasn't the kind of ability that works best to convert a possible unbeliever to the concept that there might be people with extraordinary abilities living all around. Mohinder wished he had Elle around. Or Sylar. Well… not _actually_ Sylar, but Mohinder had never forgotten the first moment he witnessed someone doing something wholly illogical and impossible. It had been a moment that changed his life, and Mohinder felt a twinge of sadness when Monty and Simon looked at him and Molly with less than impressed faces and simply said, "…okay."

The grown-ups decided to be satisfied with that, and to revisit the concept in a few months.

**********************************************************

"Who is it?" she asked one day while getting a snack at EAT on the way to pick up the kids.

"What?" Mohinder was flustered. This was literally out of nowhere.

Heidi wasn't buying Mohinder's feigned incomprehension. "You know what I mean. If there was a male equivalent of an ice princess, you'd be it. So I thought maybe either there's someone you're preoccupied with, or you're just not in a place right now to be interested in anyone."

"It's the latter." Mohinder looked stonily ahead of him, avoiding eye contact.

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"Yes," Mohinder answered, with unnecessary finality, and tried to give all his attention to the checkout lady.

"I'm not trying to hit on you, you know," Heidi said with a toss of her hair.

"I know," Mohinder replied.

Heidi regarded him as he continued to look anywhere but at her: at his food, in his wallet, at a book in the bookstore window. "Someone did a hell of a job on you," she threw out.

He said nothing, but she was not to be dissuaded so easily. Heidi continued on cheerfully, as though nothing was wrong.

"I was just wondering if I should try to set you up with someone. You're so attractive; it's such a shame…" She trailed off for a second before quietly finishing with, "And it might help with… you know."

Thinking of the woman with whom they had just had an incredibly awkward encounter, full of disparaging and judgmental looks based on incorrect assumptions, Mohinder nodded, and didn't force her to finish the uncomfortable sentence. "I see your point. But if it's okay with you, I'd rather you didn't."

"Have it your way. But let me know if you change your mind." Heidi shrugged and took a drink out of her Vitamin Water.

"I doubt I will, but I'll let you know."

**********************************************************

One afternoon, Mohinder got an urgent call from India informing him that his mother was ill and asking for his immediate presence. As Mohinder put the phone down, he looked around the empty apartment and felt lost. This was an intrusion of regular life to which he had become unaccustomed. He couldn't refuse his mother's request, especially since he couldn't even convince himself that he was doing something important enough to shut out the real world. It was more that he lived in the shadow of fear that the sky was about to fall and someone might need his assistance.

What would he do with Molly? School was particularly hectic right now, with a dance show going up in a couple of weeks of which she was the star, and a lot of tests that he had been helping her begin reviewing for. She'd already missed so much school this year, between the move, Thompson, and being ill. Mohinder hated the thought of pulling her out again to drag her halfway across the world, no matter how much his mother wanted to meet her, and no matter what the dangers were.

Without quite knowing what he was doing, Mohinder found himself dialing Heidi's number. As he waited for her to pick up, he knew he had been unconsciously driven to the right decision.

Heidi, of course, was ecstatic.

"I'd love to have her! For as long as you need. It'll be such a joy. There's plenty of room and the boys adore her. And we can take her to Nantucket for the weekend, and then come back and stay here! When should I come get her stuff for the week? You'll have to fill me in on her favorite things to eat. This will give me an excuse to try new recipes. Does she have any allergies I need to worry about?"

Mohinder felt a pang of dread at the pit of his stomach. The dangers Molly faced were much more complicated than allergies, and he now kicked himself for not having prepared Heidi for them. He didn't quite know how to start now, and he still didn't want to. Maybe he didn't have to. No one had come to menace them in months, neither Sylar, nor anyone from the Company. The founders had been driven underground, and despite his worry, Mohinder didn't see any logical reason why they would come for her in his absence if they hadn't come after her when he was around. It wasn't as though he had any special ability to fend them off. The same went for Sylar, with whom he somehow knew he had a silent agreement in terms of leaving Molly alone. Mohinder had ambiguously discussed with Heidi his constant, low-grade fear that someone might come to threaten Molly, and that those someones might have special abilities, so it wasn't as though she was ignorant of the dangers. Heidi and the boys were powerless, so there was no reason for them to be targets in his absence. His gut told him it would be alright, but his usual sense of guilt tormented him.

"Just shellfish," Mohinder finally answered.

**********************************************************

India had been a whirlwind. Mohinder's mother's illness turned out not to have been too serious. It was brought on mostly by loneliness, it seemed. She had perked up almost immediately upon her son's arrival. It was nice being back in his old life, if only for a week. However, the stagnancy of what he encountered there, after all that had happened to him, reminded him that New York was now his home. Chennai would always hold powerful memories for him (and he vowed to visit more often, for his mother's sake), but he had moved beyond everything in his life there. That realization left him with a pit of sadness in his soul similar to what he had felt so long ago when he had outgrown his favorite toys.

It was evening when Mohinder pulled up at the Petrelli house to pick up Molly. This was the longest she'd been away from him, and he hoped she was well. She had sounded fine when he called every day, but towards the end of the week, something strange had crept into Heidi's voice, and Mohinder wondered what was up.

When he arrived, Monty answered the door and bellowed throughout the house, "Mooooom! Molly! Dr. Suresh is here!" As both of them walked into the house, he added, "So, what did you bring me from India?"

Mohinder was prepared for this and pulled a small brass statue from his pocket. "Here you go. This is Ganesh. And here's a fat Buddha for Simon."

"Half man , half _elephant_? Awesome!" Just as Heidi reached the with a huge smile, Monty ran off to find Simon, yelling, "I got a cooler one than you!"

"You look stressed, Mohinder! I was hoping you'd get to relax a little while you were away."

"I just braved JFK. That undoes the effects of even the most relaxing vacation. So, how is everything?"

"Just wonderful. Molly's taking a shower right now. She'll be down in a few minutes. I think she had a nice time, but she's been excited for your return since yesterday. She made you a present. I won't spoil it for you."

Mohinder nodded. "Good, I'm glad she wasn't too much trouble. Thank you so much for doing this for me."

Heidi pooh-poohed him. "So…" she began mischievously, "when were you planning on telling me?"

"Telling you what?" Mohinder had no idea where this could be going.

"About your houseguest!"

Mohinder was dumbfounded. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Was staying in your apartment. Goes by Gabriel. Ring a bell?" She winked, showing that she had no idea what was at stake here.

Mohinder panicked. "When did you see him?"

"Thursday. Molly realized she forgot something at your house, so I popped over and let myself in. And he was sitting there. I'll admit, I was a little creeped out at first---"

Mohinder felt a cold dread. "What did he do?"

Whatever it had been, it hadn't been much, because Heidi continued on in the same chirpy manner. "Nothing. He's just really intense, as you probably already know. He figured out who I was. I tried to play it cool, since he already knew we were friends and that Molly was staying with me. But it was just a bit of a surprise, because I had never heard of him before."

He'd been caught now, and had no idea how far to take her. Would she hate him for having kept this from him? Should he tell her all now, or continue to obscure the truth? That this man she had met was a serial killer who stole people's brains---people like what her sons had the potential to become. Mohinder was still trying to figure out what to do when she went on.

"And then we talked about you." It was as it she thought she was living in a romantic comedy, and not the gritty sci-fi drama that had reared its ugly head once again.

"You _what_?"

"Yes, you heard me. We talked about how kind you are, and yet how you don't take any crap from anyone. How you found him when he was lost, gave him hope, saved his life. It was beautiful, really. _Somebody_ is quite taken with you, my dear doctor. Oh, don't blush," she said when Mohinder started turning red and sputtering. Then she became impatient. "So who is he? Why haven't you ever mentioned him? There's obviously some drama here."

Mohinder looked at the floor and shook his head. Drama. She didn't know the half of it.


End file.
